Free Software sites

Referring to the post "Useful tech skills to know", you can get some of the links to download the free software here.

1. Typesetting
People who want to use LaTeX can get a very good compiler here, WinEdt - its great. But I find that MikTex is easier to type equations with. To install LaTeX properly, you'll need to have Ghostview and prefably Ghostscript installed too, and Adobe Acrobat reader if possible. This website tells you how to get the compilers(s). Wikibooks offers a great tutorial on using LaTeX.

2. Sound
You can use Windows Movie Maker for this also. Or you can try this one. (Vanessa: Or Audacity, which is free, open-source, and works on all operating systems).

3. Video/ movie
Download Windows Movie Maker from here. It's really easy to use. If you're using a Mac, good for you; you have iMovie.

4. Engineering/Physics
Java or C++ are good places to begin with, particularly since the compilers are free and there's loads of online tutorials floating all over the internet. Some other languages with free compilers are Ruby, python, fortran, etc.

5. Check out MIT OpenCourseWare's webpage on programming. You can links to all sort of free compilers from there.